Conventional enterprise software systems receive, generate and store data related to many aspects of a business enterprise. In some implementations, this data may relate to marketing, sales, customer relations, supplier relations, inventory, human resources, and/or finances. Reporting tools are commonly used to collect and present enterprise data in a coherent manner. Reporting tools may therefore facilitate and improve business enterprise decision-making.
Reporting tools typically allow a user to create a report specification. A report specification defines the layout of report elements (e.g., sections, tables, columns, rows, header, footer, etc.) and the data which is to populate the report elements. When a report is requested, the tools generate a populated report based on stored enterprise data and the report specification. If the relevant data changes, a subsequently-generated report will include the changed data.
For most users, the reporting interface is the primary, if not exclusive, interface to the stored enterprise data. It would be beneficial to leverage this well-known and well-used reporting metaphor to provide mechanisms for modifying the stored enterprise data.